In the past several years, the rise of interest in African American art has picked up speed. While African American art has gained increasing exposure in America since the 1960s, it has been largely due to independent and specialized collectors, individual patrons of the arts, and privately owned galleries. However, in the past 5 to 7 years, mainstream museums and collectors have also begun to see a larger role for African American art in their collections.
The patrons and independent collectors who have fueled continuing interest in these works of art can now add to their roster one of the most influential persons on the globe: President Barack Obama. He and the First Lady have been quietly putting the word out to galleries, dealers, collectors, and public institutions that the White House art collection is ready to diversify. They are requesting to borrow pieces done in recent decades by influential artists of a greater diversity of background—not only works by black artists, but also Hispanic artists, Asian artists, and female artists as well.
This interest from the First Family has become a catalyst for rising expectations in an American art history that better reflects America.
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